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Road to Revolution
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Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris brought the French and Indian War to an end. This gave France no choice but to hand over all North American possessions east of the Mississippi River to Britain. -
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was the first law that Parliament passed for them to raise revenue for the crown from colonies. This increased the duty on sugar from the West Indies. People were not okay with that this act and as a result, duties were lowered extremely, and agitation died down. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was created to raise revenue to be able to support the new military force. This mandated direct taxation on a wide variety of colonial transactions, including legal writs, and newspaper advertisements. Colonists were enraged about this new act and protested against it. -
Quartering Act
The Quartering Act required colonists to have to provide food and a place to live for British troops upon their demand. The colonists were against being forced to house British troops and would rather be asked and then give consent. -
Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts, which were a series of four acts on consistently purchased items, were resisted everywhere by the majority of colonists. The colonists were becoming very hostile towards the British agents in Boston. They refused to pay any taxes and the phrase, “No taxation without representation” was born. -
Boston Massacre
In Boston, a small British army detachment was being threatened by mob harassment. They claimed to have heard the word “fire” yelled, assuming it was their commander. They opened fire on the mob and killed a couple people. Only two Redcoats were found guilty. -
Boston Tea Party
In Boston in December of 1773, around 100 Bostonians disguised as Indians, boarded ships in the Boston harbor. The ships were full of chests of tea which the Bostonians smashed open and dumped into the harbor. They did this to protest the tax on tea. -
Intolerable Acts
The Boston Port Act, Massachusetts Government Act, Administration of Justice Act, and Quartering Act. These acts were set in place in retaliation for colonial resistance to British rule. These acts became the justification for convening the First Continental Congress -
First Continental Congress
In response to the Intolerable Acts, the First Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia. 56 delegates who represented the colonies were present. It drew up a Declaration of Rights, and it called for complete boycott of British goods. Non-importation, non-exportation, and non-consumption were allowed from Britain. -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
The British were headed from Boston to seize the colonial armory at Concord. On the way, the British force was met in Lexington by local minutemen and others. It is unclear who fired the first shot, but it sparked a skirmish that left eight Americans dead. Redcoats then pushed to Concord where they got ambushed and suffered many losses. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was the first formal statement by a nation’s people asserting their right to choose their own government. Thomas Jefferson was selected to write the declaration. The Continental Congress reconvened on July 1, and the following day 12 of the 13 colonies adopted the resolution for independence. The granted freedom from the British government to the 13 Colonies.
